Method of making safety side rails



1955 P. c. JOHNSON 3,197,852

METHOD OF MAKING SAFETY SIDE RAILS Original Filed May 28, 1959 INVENTOR.

PHILIP C. JOHNSON.

d ameiJ ATTORNEYS FIG. I

United States Patent 3 197,852 METHOD or MAKiNG SAFETY SIDE RAILS PhilipC. Johnson, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignpr to F. & F.

Koenigkramer Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, :1 corporation of Ohio Originalapplication May 28, 1959, Ser. No. 816,535, new Patent No. 3,104,402,dated Sept. 24, 1963. Divided and this application Feb. 4, 1963, Ser.No. 255,827

. 7 Claims. '(Cl. 29-446) This application is a division of my copendingapplication Serial No. 816,535, filed May 28, 1959 now US. Patent No.3,104,402, issued September 24, 1963.

An object of this invention is to provide a method of making a safetyside rail for a patient support, the safety side portion of which siderail is adapted to be raised into patient-restraining position andlowered to a retracted, non-interfering position,

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making adevice of the above character, the safety side portion of which isadapted to move when released or to be moved in a smooth, positive,quiet manner without cocking or jamming from its raised of operativeposition to its lowered or retracted position.

i A further object of this invention is to provide a method of making aside rail of the above character, the safety side portion of which isadapted to be locked in operative position in rigid, rattle-freerelation to the patient support and adapted to move gravitationally tothe-lowered, retracted position when released and be moved to the raisedor operative position, in a smooth, positive, quiet manner withoutcocking or jamming, and with minimum jarring of the patient support.

, Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making asafety side rail which is non-rattling when its safety side portion issecured in operative position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making asafety side constructed in a manner that the component parts thereof arein stressed relation to each other in a rigid, unitary, rattle-freestructure.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of makinginternally stressed, rattle-free, safety sides for safety side rails.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will beapparent to those having ordinary skill in the art to which thisinvention pertains.

In the accompanying drawings and the following description of theembodiment disclosed therein, like reference characters indicate likeparts.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a safety side rail embodying theinstant invention in relation to fragmentary portions of a patientsupport, the safety side being-shown in full lines in lowered orretracted relation to the support and fragmentally in dot-dot-dash linesin raised or operative relation to the support;

FIG. 2 is a view in section taken along a line 22 in FIG. 1, moreclearly illustrating details of construction of the side rail guide; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view partly in section taken along a linecorresponding to line 3-3 in FIG. 1, but showing the latch co-operatingwith a fragmentary portion of a safety side in raised or operativeposition in simultaneous co-operative relation to a fragmentary portionof a side rail guide. e

of a person from such a supporting device.

Safety sides or safety side rails are useful in conjunction with variousdevices for supporting human beings.

Such devices include beds, stretchers used in ambulances,

or other conveyances, hospital beds, stretcher carts used in hospitalsfor moving patients from place to place, and

as supports for patients in a recovery room following an 3,197,852Patented Aug. 3, 1965 instant invention may be provided for use inconjunctionwith devices of the foregoing character and the safety sidethereof may be raised to operative position and lowered or retracted topermit sidewise entry of departure Safety side rails embodying theinstant invention have safety sides which may be raised and loweredsmoothly was to eliminate objectionable jarring vibrations of thesupport'during raising and lowering of the safety side. The noncockingand non-jamming cooperation between the safety side and the guidestherefor contributes substantially to the smooth operation, as does theinclined direction of movement of the safety side.

In FIG. 1 of the drawing a fragmentary portion of a support such as aportion of a hospital stretcher cart frame 15 and patient cushioning pad15 supported thereon are shown in relation to safety side 20, side railguides 40 and latch 53.

The safety side 20 shown in FIG. 1 has a rim comprising upper rimportion 21 and lower rim portion 22 joined together in complementaryrelation by aligning plugs 27 to which they are respectively secured bypins 28, 29. Cross members 23, 24, 25, and 26 are each supported inparallel relation by and co-operate with rim portions 21 and 22, whichthey intersect at an acute angle Y. Rim portions 21 and 22 of the safetyside shown in the drawing may be fabricated from cylindrical metaltubing, for example, welded steel tubing, while cross members 23, 24, 25and 26 are lengths of similar tubing of smaller diameter. Spacedapertures are provided at predetermined locations in rim portions 21 and22, each adapted to co-operatively receive a portion of a respectivecross member 23, 24, 25, or 26. The cross member receiving apertures areof a size and shape as will result in tight binding engagement betweenrim and cross members when the safety side is in the assembled conditionshown in FIG. 1. When cross members are cylindrical, as are members 23,24, 25, and 26, shown, the apertures may be cross member 24, which line39 intersects at the surface of the rim portion 21. The magnitude of theangle X included between lines 34) and 31 is selected so that theaperture cut by the drill will be large enough to permit easy insertionof the end portion of a cross member such as 24, when its axis or centerline 31 nearly coincides with the drilling axis 39, but which is smallenough that cross member 24 will bind tightly in non-rattling relationto rim portion 21 when it is swung to the relative position in which itis shown in FIG. 1. The other cross member receiving apertures in rimportion 21 are drilled in like manner with the drill bit advancing alonglines parallel and corresponding to line 30. The cross member receivingapertures in rim portion 22, are preferably drilled in like manner, butwith the drill bit advancing along lines parallel to line 39, butcorresponding to line 32 which is parallel to, spaced from, and not inco-linear relation to line 30. Cross members 23, 24, 25, and 26 areinserted into co-operating relation to rim portions 21 and 22 when thoseparts are in relative positions such that lines 30, 31 and 32 coincide.Thereafter, rim portion 21 is shifted toward the left, relative toportion 22 as viewed in FIG. 1, into the relative relation in which therim portions 21, 22 are shown in'FIG. l and secured by plugs 27 and pins28, 29. The apertures in rim portions 21, 22 may, as explained above, bemade by drilling or in any other manner in which apertures of suchnature may be provided.

A pair of side rail guides 40 are provided in co-operating relation torespective cross-members 23, 25 and are adapted to cooperate with frameto mount safety side in operative relation to the device for supportinga human. Each side rail guide 40, as shown in FIG. 2, has a rigid,tubular frame 41, secured in integral relation to radially projectingmounting stud 4 2, as by weld metal 43. Stud 42 is adapted to extendthrough spacer 37, clearance aperture 38 in frame 15, and into threadedcooperation with nut 39. That is, threads 44 on stud 42 co-operate withthe threads of nut 39. Spacer 37 is thus clamped between adjacentportions of frame 15 and guide frame 41. Frame 41 is an elongatedtubular member in which inwardly facing annular grooves 45, 46 areprovided. Grooves 45, 46 are respectively located adjacent the mouths orends 47, 48 of frame 41 and are adapted to receive bearing rings 49, 50.Bearing rings 49, 59 are supported in grooves 45, 46 in aligned relationfor closely conforming to the surface of the cross member, such as 25,co-operating therewith. The bearing rings 49, 58 are preferably made ofa bearing material which requires little or no lubrication, is resistantto substances to which it may be exposed when in use, and which tends todeaden or reduce noises produced by sliding or shifting of the crossmember, such as 25, therein. I have found that hearing rings ofsynthetic resin type bearing materials such as nylon,tetrafiuoroethylene polymers known as Teflon and similar materials arequite satisfactory. As shown in FIG. 2, bearing ring 49, 50 may be ofsplitring form which eases installation in the grooves 45, 46 of frame41 and minimizes the chance of damage to the bearing rings duringinstallation. The bearing rings 49, 50 project radially inwardly fromgrooves 45, 46 and thus co-operate with and support a cross member suchas in spaced relation to frame 41 through which the cross memberextends. Resilient bumper rings 51, 52 of rubber-like material, aresecured respectively to the end faces 47, 43 of frame 41 by a suitableadhesive cement.

The side rail guides are preferably placed in co-operative relation tothe respective cross members 23 and 25 between rim portions 21 and 22incident to assembly of the safety side 20. a

The side rail guides 40 and safety side 20, when so assembled, form aunit readily securable to a support.

A pair of appropriately spaced clearance holes 38 are provided in frame15 for stud portions 4-2. A spacer 37 is provided annularly of stud 42between frame 15 and side rail guide frame 41 as shown in FIG. 2. Nut 39cooperates With frame 15 and the threads 44 of stud 42 so that each ofthe side rail guides 40 is firmly secured to frame 15.

When the side rail guides 49 are in cooperative relation to frame 15 andcross members 23, 25 of safety side 20 (as shown in FIG. 1), theysupport the safety side 20 for movement between limits of a range oftravel indicated by arrow T in FIG. 1 and in a direction paralleltocross members 23 and 25. The limit lowered or retracted position isshown in full lines in FIG. 1, and in that position upper rim portion 21is in co-operative abutment with bumper rings 52. The opposite limit ofmovement of safety side 20 corresponds to the raised or operativeposition of that safety side with reference to the human support and isindicated in FIG. 1 by dot-dot-dash lines. In the raised operativeposition, lower rim portion 22 of safety side 20 is in abutment withresilient bumper rings 51 of the side rail guides 40. A latch 53 isprovided for securing safety side 20 in the raised operative position.

The latch 53 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, has a bracket or base 54 adapted tobe secured by screws 55 to a portion of the-frame 15 of the humansupporting device. Clamp shoe 56 is pivotally secured to bracket 54 bypin 57 and to clamp handle 58 by pin 59. A link 60 is pivotally securedto bracket 54 by pin 61 and to clamp handle 58 by pin 62. When clamphandle 58 is swung in counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3,clamp shoe 56 is retracted as it swings counter-clockwise about pin 57and link 60 swings clockwise about pin 61. When the latch 53 is in theadvanced or safety side securing position shown in FIG. 3, clamp handle53 and clamp link 66 co-operate as a locked toggle linkage bracing clampshoe 56 so its face 63 engages rim portion 22 and urges the sameupwardly and outwardly to stress safety side 20 into firm, non-rattlingco-operation with resilient bumper ring 51 and the bearing rings 49, 50of associated side rail guides 40 co-operating with said safety side 20and frame 15.

Having'thus described what presently appears to be a preferredembodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those havingordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains, that variousmodifications and changes may be made in the illustrative embodiment,without departing from the spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

Therefore, what is claimed as new and is desired to be secured byLetters Patent is:

1. The method of making a safety side including the steps of providingtwo complementary rim-forming portions, providing a plurality ofcross-members, providing for each cross-member a pair of cross-memberreceiving apertures, one aperture of each pair of cross-member receivingapertures being provided in each of said rim-forming portions, each pairof said apertures being for receiving portions of a respectivecross-member and being nonaligned when said rim forming portions are inrim forming relation, inserting respective end'portions of saidcrossmembers in respective cross-member receiving apertures provided insaid rim-forming portions while said rim forming portions are in non-rimforming relation with said pairs of cross member receiving apertures inaligning relation to stress said rim-forming and cross members,

and securing said rim-forming members in rim-forming relation, whereby asafety side having parallel cross-members in non-perpendicular relationto said rim-forming members may be made.

2. The method of making a safety side, which consists in providing apair of parallel apertures of predetermined cross-section and extendingtransversely and outwardly into generally opposite portions of a rim,inserting respective end portions of a cross-member of likepredetermined cross-section in said apertures while they are inalignment, shifting the rim portions into rim forming relation whilepivoting said cross-member relative to said rim portions and couplingsaid rim portions in rim forming relation in which the apertures are ina non-aligned relation in which the cross-member and rim portions aremutually stressed in nonpermanently distorted rattle-free relation.

3. The method of making a safety side, which consists in providing aplurality of pairs of parallel apertures of predetermined cross-sectionand extending transversely and outwardly into generally oppositeportions of a rim, inserting respective end portions of a respectivecrossmember of like predetermined cross-section in each respective pairof said apertures while they are in alignment, shifting the rim portionsinto rim forming relation while pivoting said cross-members relative tosaid rim portions and coupling said rim portions in rim forming relationin which each of said pairs of apertures are in a non-aligned relationin which the cross-member therein and rim portions are mutually stressedin nonpermanently distorted rattle-free relation.

4. The method ofmaking a safety side, which consists in providing aplurality of rim portions having a pair of parallel apertures ofpredetermined cross-section and extending transversely and outwardlyinto generally opposite portions thereof, inserting respective endportions of a cross-member of like predetermined cross-section in 8 saidapertures While they are in alignment, shifting the rim portions intorim forming relation while pivoting said cross-member relative to saidrim portions and coupling said rim portions in rim forming relation inwhich the apertures are in a non-aligned relation in which thecrossmember and rim portions are mutually stressed in nonpermanentlydistorted rattle-free relation.

5. The method of making a safety side, which consists in providing aplurality of rim portions having a plurality of pairs of parallelapertures of predetermined crosssection and extending transversely andoutwardly into generally opposite portions thereof, inserting respectiveend portions of a respective cross-member of like predeterminedcross-section in such respective pair of said apertures while they arein alignment, shifting the rim portions into rim forming relation whilepivoting said cross-members relative to said rim portions and couplingsaid rim portions in rim forming relation in which each of said pairs ofapertures are in a non-aligned relation in which the cross-membertherein and rim portions are mutually stressed in non-premanentlydistorted rattle-free relation.

6. The method of making a safety side which consists in providing a pairof complementary rim forming hollow members, providing a cross-member ofpredetermined cross-section, advancing an aperture forming member intoeach said rim forming member to provide an aperture at a predeterminedlocation therein and of predetermined shape related to the cross-sectionof said crossmember, inserting respective end portions of saidcrossmember into said apertures while said apertures are aligned whensaid rim forming members are displaced from rim forming relation,shifting said rim forming members into rim forming relation andsimultaneously pivoting said cross-member relative to said rim formingmembers and thereby mutually stressing said rim forming members andcross-member by distorting same within the elastic limits thereof andsecuring said rim members in rim-forming relation while said aperturesare in a nonaligned relation in which the cross-member and rim membersare mutually stressed in non-permanently distorted rattle-free relationto provide a rattlefree safety side. 7

7. The method of making a safety side which consists in providing a pairof complementary rim forming members, providing a cross-member ofpredetermined crosssection, advancing an aperture forming member intoeach said rim forming member to provide an aperture at a predeterminedlocation therein and of predetermined shape related to the cross-sectionof said cross-member, inserting respective end portions of saidcross-member into said apertures when said rim forming members aredisplaced from rim forming relation and said apertures are in alignmentshifting said rim forming members into rim forming relation andsimultaneously pivoting said cross-member relative to said rim formingmembers and thereby mutually stressing said rim forming members andcross-member by distorting same within the elastic limits thereof andsecuring said rim members in rim forming relation while said aperturesare in a non-aligned relation in which the cross-member and rim membersare mutually stressed in nonpermanently distorted rattlefree relation toprovide a rattle-free safety side.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS WHITMORE A.WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

CHARLIE T. MOON, Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,197,852 August 3, 1965 Philip C. Johnson that the said Letters Patentshould read as corrected below.

Column 5, line 14, for "such" read each Signed and sealed this 1st dayof February 1966.

EAL)

NEST W. SWIDER Commissioner of Patents

1. THE METHOD OF MAKING A SAFETY SIDE INCLUDING THE STEPS OF PROVIDINGTWO COMPLEMENTARY RIM-FORMING PORTIONS, PROVIDING A PLURALITY OFCROSS-MEMBERS, PROVIDING FOR EACH CROSS-MEMBER A PAIR OF CROSS-MEMBER,PROVIDING APERTURES, ONE APERTURE OF EACH PAIR OF CROSS-MEMBER RECEIVINGAPERTURES BEING PROVIDED IN EACH OF SAID RIM-FORMING PORTIONS, EACH PAIROF SAID APERTURES BEING FOR RECEIVING PORTIONS OF A RESPECTIVECROSS-MEMBER AND BEING NONALIGNED WHEN SAID RIM FORMING PORTIONS ARE INRIM FORMING RELATION, INSERTING RESPECTIVE END PORTIONS OF SAIDCROSSMEMBERS IN RESPECTIVE CROSS-MEMBER RECEIVING APERTURES PROVIDED INSAID RIM-FORMING PORTIONS WHILE SAID RIM FORMING PORTIONS ARE IN NON-RIMFORMING RELATION WITH SAID PAIRS OF CROSS MEMBER RECEIVING APERTURES INALIGNMENT, SHIFTING SAID RIM-FORMING PORTIONS INTO RIM-FORMING RELATIONTO STRESS SAID RIM-FORMING AND CROSS MEMBERS, AND SECURING SAIDRIM-FORMING MEMBERS IN RIM-FORMING RELATION, WHEREBY A SAFETY SIDEHAVING PARALLEL CROSS-MEMBERS IN NON-PERPENDICULAR RELATION TO SAIDRIM-FORMING MEMBERS MAY BE MADE.